If you’re a B2B SaaS founder, you’ve probably already tried some cold email outreach to grow your startup.
But the results didn’t meet your expectations for one reason or another. Many founders outsource their sales early on, hoping to find that “magical” lead-gen agency to drive millions in revenue through cold emails alone.
Unfortunately, reliable agencies that can deliver on cold email are rare. That’s why it’s often better to structure and execute your cold outreach process in-house.
This article outlines some fundamental approaches and frameworks I use to drive meetings and customers through cold email campaigns. Let’s dive in:
What is Cold Email Outreach?
Cold email outreach means emailing people who have not learned about your company or product. These are brand-new potential customers that you are contacting for the first Time.
When doing cold outreach, you gather lists of people’s email addresses and send them emails even though they didn’t ask to receive emails from you before. This differs from emailing people who have already signed up or shown interest in your business. That’s usually called a cold email outreach strategy to gain more leads.
The main reasons companies do cold email outreach are:
- To find new sales opportunities and customers
- To generate more leads of people interested in their product
- To increase awareness about their brand
Rather than waiting for people to come to them, businesses use cold emails to proactively reach out to numerous potential customers at once through email campaigns.
However, since these people have yet to learn about the company, the emails must work harder to grab their attention and provide enough value and reasons for recipients to engage.
B2B SAAS Customer
A B2B SAAS customer is a business that signs up and pays to use the SaaS product offered by the software provider company.
Some examples of B2B SaaS customers:
- A marketing agency paying for a SaaS email marketing tool
- A retail company using a SaaS inventory management system
- A consulting firm subscribing to a SaaS project management platform
The key aspects are 1) it’s a business customer, not an individual consumer, and 2) they are paying recurring fees to access and use cloud-based software rather than installing it locally.
Acquiring B2B SaaS customers is crucial for software companies, as it provides ongoing, predictable revenue through subscriptions rather than one-time software licenses.
You can generate millions of dollars in business by sending cold emails to the b2b2 saas customers. However, for this, the right strategy is required. I will discuss my practical experience that generated leads over the year.
Let’s discuss the step-by-step process of The Cold Email Roadmap for B2B SaaS Customer Acquisition.
Step 1: Set Up Dedicated Email Domains
Never send cold emails from your main company domain. If something goes wrong, like accidentally emailing the wrong message, your domain could be blocked or marked as spam by providers like Gmail.
That would be disastrous because even your most critical non-sales emails could go to spam for investors, customers, etc. Set up 10-20 additional domains for your cold outreach campaigns to avoid this.
I currently use around 60 separate domains rotated through my campaigns. And it worked for me.
Step 2: Warm Up New Email Domains
Before blasting emails from a new domain, you must “warm it up” over 2-3 weeks. This process simulates the natural sending patterns of a real user, so email providers don’t immediately flag you as spam.
Email warmup tools will gradually increase send volumes from that domain, starting with just a few emails daily and working up to higher, more natural volumes. This shows providers like Gmail and Outlook that the domain is being used properly.
Step 3: Define Target Audience Segments
Next, define the 2-3 key segments or buyer personas you want to test your cold emails with. For example, if selling to design agencies, you could test freelance designers, small agencies of 10-50 people, and larger 50-500-person agencies.
I recommend testing at least 3,000 leads per segment to maximize your chances of finding product-market fit with your messaging.
Step 4: Craft Attention-Grabbing Messages
Your cold emails need specific core components to drive opens, replies, and meetings:
The Hook – This is what captures attention and gets people to read your entire email. Popular hooks include case studies, pain points, questions, or upfront value propositions.
The Body – This covers your value proposition and why the prospect should care, supported by social proof like customer results.
The Call-to-Action (CTA) – Instead of just dropping a meeting link, first ask if the prospect is interested. If they reply, you can propose meeting times or provide your calendar link.
Create 4-6 message variations for each segment to find which hook, value prop, and proof points resonate best through A/B testing.
Step 5: Use a Multi-Email Cadence
Don’t rely on just a single email to convert leads. Have a cadence of 4+ emails:
Email 1: The initial cold outreach
Email 2: Quick follow-up on the first email
Email 3: Detailed case study of customer results
Email 4: Break the pattern with something unexpected, like just an emoji
Most replies come after those first few “touch” emails, so having a cadence is crucial.
Step 6: Verify Your Email Lists
Before uploading any lead lists to your email tool, pass them through an email verification service like NeverBounce. This removes invalid addresses from your lists, increasing deliverability.
Sending emails to too many invalid addresses can trash your domain reputation and sender scores, blocking more emails.
By properly setting up your cold email infrastructure, defining your audiences, testing message variations, building a cadence, and maintaining clean lists, you can effectively drive B2B SaaS leads and customers through this channel.
It takes some upfront work, but consistently getting 50-70% open rates and booking product demos is achievable if you nail the process. Start building your cold outreach machine today!
How to Write Cold Emails for SaaS Companies (Example Cold Email Templates )
Here are some b2b lead generation email sample
Template 1: Introducing Your SaaS Solution
Subject Line: [Company Name], streamline your [pain point] with [Your SaaS Solution]
Dear [Recipient’s Name],
As the [Recipient’s Role] at [Company Name], you likely face challenges with [specific pain point]. Our SaaS solution, [Your SaaS Solution], is designed to help companies like yours overcome these hurdles and [key benefit].
[Brief value proposition and critical features]
I’d love to schedule a quick call to discuss how [Your SaaS Solution] can be tailored to your specific needs and provide you with a personalized demo.
Are you available for a 15-minute call on [Day/Date] at [Time]? If not, please suggest a time that works best for you.
Thank you for your Time, and I look forward to connecting soon.
Best regards,
[Your Name]
……………………………………………………………..
Template 2: Offering a Free Trial
Subject Line: [Company Name], try [Your SaaS Solution] for free
Hi [Recipient’s Name],
As a [Recipient’s Role] at [Company Name], I understand the importance of [specific pain point or challenge]. I wanted to introduce you to [Your SaaS Solution], our cloud-based platform designed to help businesses like yours [key benefit].
To give you a firsthand experience, I’d like to offer you a [trial duration] free trial of our software. During this trial, you’ll have access to all of our powerful features, including:
[Key Feature 1]
[Key Feature 2]
[Key Feature 3]
Getting started is easy. Click here [link] to sign up for your free trial; no credit card is required.
If you have any questions or want a personalized demo, I’m happy to schedule a call at your convenience.
Best regards,
[Your Name]
Template 3: Customer Testimonial
Subject Line: How [Customer Company] achieved [key metric] with [Your SaaS Solution]
Dear [Recipient’s Name],
As the [Recipient’s Role] at [Company Name], you’re likely focused on [specific pain point or challenge]. That’s why I wanted to share how one of our customers, [Customer Company], was able to [key achievement or result] using [Your SaaS Solution].
[Brief customer testimonial or case study]
Like [Customer Company], your team could also benefit from [Your SaaS Solution]’s powerful features, including [key feature 1], [key feature 2], and [key feature 3].
I’d be happy to schedule a quick call to discuss your needs and provide a personalized demo of how our solution can drive similar results for [Company Name].
Are you available for a 15-minute call next week? If so, please let me know a few times that work for you.
Thank you for your Time, and I look forward to connecting soon.
Best regards,
[Your Name]
Feel free to modify these templates to fit your needs and value proposition. Remember to personalize each email and tailor the content to your target audience.
Conclusion
Cold email outreach is a powerful way for B2B SaaS companies to find new customers and leads. However, proper planning and strategy are required to be successful.
By following the steps outlined – setting up dedicated email domains, targeting the right audience segments, creating attention-grabbing messages, using multiple emails in a sequence, and verifying email lists – you can maximize your chances of getting replies and booking meetings.
While it takes some initial effort to set everything up correctly, the potential rewards of acquiring new customers through cold emails make it worthwhile.
Keep testing and improving your cold email campaigns over Time; you can drive significant growth for your SaaS business. With the right approach, cold outreach can be a game-changer for attracting more leads and customers.
Also Read :Top 6 Best Saas Payment Gateways in 2024